BIR MRIGESH,

BIR MRIGESH, full title SRI BIR MRIGESH GURBILAS DEV TARU, is a voluminous nineteenth century work by Bhai Sher Singh, a disciple of Baba Khuda Singh (1786-1861), who completed it in 1911. In bold Gurmukhi typography, the book runs to 1912 pages, divided into two parts comprising 847 and 1065 pages, respectively. It contains accounts, in ample detail, of the lives of Baba Sahib Singh Bedi, Baba Bhag Singh of Kuri, Baba Bir Singh of Naurangabad and Baba Khuda Singh. The author refers to these luminaries as guru and calls his book gurbilas (biography of the Gurus).

The phrase Dev Taru added to title literally means godly tree and accordingly its subparts are called skandhs (branches). Skand Asare further subdivided into adhyayas (chapters). The first part called Purvardh, lit. earlier half, contains two skandhs and 61 adhyayas while Part II, Uttarardh, lit. the latter half, has three skandhs and 84 adhyayas. The author describes the four holy men as spiritual adepts of the highest rank, and revels in a detailed exposition of their views. The language the author uses is sadhukan, a dialect common among the sadhus, and the style is anecdotal.